Friday, December 19, 2008

SolarEdge raises $23m in venture capital

SolarEdge Technologies Ltd has completed a $23 million financing round. Vertex Venture Capital led the round, and was joined by the company's existing investors, Genesis Partners, Walden International, and Opus Capital, according to a report in Globes.

SolarEdge is developing advanced power-harvesting solutions for photovoltaic arrays that will lower the average cost per watt produced. The company's solution includes chipsets and software that improve the power conversion capacity of photovoltaic panels, which makes them more economically viable. An abstract of the company's U.S. patent application from June 2008 is available here.

SolarEdge CEO Guy Sella and VP product development Lior Handlesman founded the company in 2006, together with Amir Fishelov, Meir Adest, and Yoav Galin.

The company's roots can apparently be traced to the founding team members' service in the Israel Defense Forces. Sella commanded the Technology Unit of the IDF's Department of Military Intelligence in 2001-2002 and Fishelov and Handlesman served in management roles in the IDF for close to a decade. Meir Adest is a graduate of the prestigious Talpiot program and recipient of the Israel Defense Award (2004) and the Director of Intelligence Innovation Award (2001).

SolarEdge has raised $35 million to date.

Related Posts:

SolarEdge exits stealth mode and plans Series B financing

SolarEdge raises $11.8 million